The lack of affordable housing is one of the major problems facing many areas of North America. When there is a lack of affordable housing, it is difficult to move forward with economic development since people can't work in a place where they can't afford to live. It is especially difficult for young couples to buy affordable, single-family dwellings, and those that can be purchased by young couples often become too small in a few years when the young couples have children.
According to the invention, the method of constructing a building, and a wooden frame house construction, are provided that can remedy the problem of the lack of affordable housing for single-family dwellings. According to the invention, it is possible to provide a pre-engineered house which sells for under $20,000 1990 U.S. dollars for a weather-tight shell, and has sufficient room, for a couple or a couple and a small child, to live comfortably (e.g., 1100 sq. ft.). When a larger home is necessary, the same house can be expanded, without horizontal additions, to double the living area size by the addition of a second story. Expansion is also done in an inexpensive manner, and the total cost of the expansion can be approximately the same as or less than the cost of the original weather-tight shell.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of constructing a one-story building that is expandable to include a second story is provided. The first step in the method is the construction of a one-story building frame including a plurality of side wall (such as stud walls), and a plurality of upper joists (such as 2".times.10" joists) extending at the top of the side walls. Then a roof is constructed on the ground. The roof preferably is constructed as one or two modular roof sections such as illustrated in U.S. No. 4,850,174 (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein). A modular roof system includes pitched roofing sections (e.g., plywood or like fibrous material, subroofing, with asphalt shingles or like roofing thereon), and ceiling joists connected at the bottom of the pitched roofing sections. The ceiling joists are preferably 2".times.6" ceiling joists. The roof (in either one or two sections) is lifted by a crane onto the top of the one-story building frame and the roof is connected to the one-story building frame so that the ceiling joists and the upper joists are adjacent to each other, using readily releasable fasteners such as screws.
When it is desirable to expand the house, the readily releasable fasteners are disconnected so that the roof can be removed from the house and the roof is lifted from the one-story frame and placed on the ground adjacent to it. Then a second story frame, including a plurality of side walls (such as stud walls) is constructed onto the first story frame with the upward joist of the first story frame at the bottom of the second story frame. Then the roof is lifted back onto the building and connected (e.g., with nails) to the second story frame. The upper joist of the first story preferable forms a stairwell opening therein (e.g., about 3'.times.9') so that after construction of the second story, a stairway may readily be provided between the second story and the first story without the necessity of disturbing the configuration of the upper joists.
The invention also comprises a wooden frame house having a first story wooden frame including a plurality of side stud walls, with upper joists (e.g., 2.times.10 joists) at the top of the stud wall. A roof comprising of one or two integral roof panel assemblies having wooden ceiling joists, and including fibrous subroofing with roofing applied thereon, is disposed on top of the first story wooden frame removable fastening means attached the roof to the first story wooden frame. The ceiling joists preferably define an opening therein adjacent the middle of the upper joists, large enough to accommodate a stairway therein if the house is expanded. The removable fastening means preferably comprise screws which may connect the ceiling joists to the upper joists utilizing angled brackets or the like.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an affordable, expandable detached single family dwelling. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from the inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.